E 462 
.2 
.N6 
Copy 1 



r^^z- 



1^ 



/i/^ 



-3 



cO 



r- 




j|ilitar8 pkr of the |opl ^nm of Ihe |niy |late 



BY-LAWS. 

ADOPTED, FEBRUARY 1, 1888, 

For the Government of the Commandery of the State of 
New York. 



(I.) Meetings. 



I.— The stated meetings of the Commandery shall be held on the first Wednes- 
day of the months of May, October, December, February, and April, at the hour of 
6:30 o'clock p. M., at Delmonico's, corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty-sixth Street, 
until otherwise ordered. 

The stated meetings shall close promptly at 8:30 o'clock p. m., except that for 
the election of officers, which shall close at 9 p. m., unless prolonged to a later 
designated hour by a two-thirds vote of the members present. 

Banquet. 

II.— The customary refection shall be served upon the adjournment of the stated 
meetings of the Commandery, The Commander shall preside at the same, or in his 
absence either of the Vice-Commanders in the order of his seniority, or in their 
absence a temporary chairman. The preparation and conduct thereof shall be com- 



6 



H 



niitted to the Recorder and Treasurer, subject to such rules or regulations as may 
from time to time be made by the Board of OflScers. Guests may be admitted thereto 
under regulations of the Board of Officers, which shall be published successively in 
the circular orders. 

(2.) Committees. 

' All committees and officers not otlierwise provided for shall be appointed by 
the Commander." The first-named member of a committee shall act as the chairman 
thereof. 

(3.) Application for Membership. 

Applications for membership shall be presented to the Commaudery at a staled 
meeting by announcement of the Recorder, and not otherwise, and none shall be 
received unless accompanied with the admission fee and the dues of the current year, 
and assurance that the prerequisites of the Constitution have been complied with. 

The names of the applicants for membership, a brief detail of their military 
history, a statement of their present occupation and address, the names of their 
recommenders and of the Committee of [nvestigation, shall be contained in the 
circular order published by the Recorder for the stated meeting at which such ap- 
plications are to be reported by the Committee of Investigation for the action of the 
Commandery. 

(4.) Committees of Investigation. 

The Commander, at his discretion, may appoint more than one Committee of In- 
vestigation, apportioning to each committee, as near as may be, an aliquot part of 
the whole number of applications, and of such number, respectively, as in his judg- 
ment will secure a strict investigation. 

Private communications by any companion to any member of a Committee of In- 
vestigation touching the worthiness or eligibility of any applicant whose application 
for membership is referred to such committee, or any private or personal knowledge 
thereof communicated by any member of the committee, shall in all instances be 
observed by them as strictly confidential as to the source thereof. Such communi- 
cations, when written, shall be returned by the chairman of the committee to the 
writer thereof immediately after the final action of the Commandery. 

Any disclosure made of the author of such communication, or information given 
that may lead to such disclosure, shall be deemed " conduct unbecoming a gentleman 
and inconsistent with that of a man of honor," and subject the offender to impeach- 
ment and expulsion. 

(5.) Circular Orders. 

Circular orders giving date and place of the stated meetings of the Com- 
mandery shall be issued by the Recorder and posted at the New York City Post Office 
at least fifteen days in advance of every such meeting to each member of the Com- 
mandery. Such order? may contain whatever information other than herc'^pbefore 

I 



Oen. 'S..Q. 'Km^ 



prescribed that the Recorder or Board of Officers shall think useful or expedient. 
Posting by the Recorder, in the New York City Post Ofifice, to the members of the 
Commandery, notice of any special meeting- seven days before such meeting shall be 
deemed sufficient notice thereof under the Constitution. Circumstances shall govern 
the notice given for the convening of the Commandery on the death and funeral of a 
companion. 

Every notice of a special meeting shall state by what authority and the business 
for which it is convened, and no other business than that named shall be transacted 
at such meeting. 

(6.) Advisory Committee. 

There shall be an Advisory Committee of not less than five and not more than 
seven members annually appointed at the May stated meeting of the Commandery, to 
hold office for one year, and until their successors are appointed, to confer and advise 
with Committees of Investigation, whenever thereunto requested, upon questions 
of hereditary right arising out of or aifecting applications for membership in the 
Order. 

(7.) Balloting for Members. 

The report of the Committee of Investigation having been read, upon its adop- 
tion by the Commandery the candidate shall be balloted for forthwith. 

At a ballot for members the Commander shall appoint two tellers, who shall 
receive the ballots and report the result to the Commander, who shall announce the 
same. 

(8.) Members. 

Companions when residing, or on armv or navy duty, within fifty miles of the 
City Hall in the city of New York, shall be classified as resident members, and those 
residing or on such duty without that limit, as non-resident members. 



(9.) NOMIN.-VTION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 

A committee of nine shall be appointed by the Commander and announced at the 
stated meeting of the Commandery in February next preceding the annual stated 
meeting in May for the election of officers, to be composed of three members from 
each arm of the service represented in the Commandery — viz., three of the Regular 
Army, three of the Navy, and three of the United States Volunteers — whose duty it 
shall be, upon the call of the chairman thereof, to convene at the headquarters of the 
Commandery and prepare a ticket containing the names of candidates for the respective 
offices of the Commandery to be elected for the ensuing year. Should there be a 
dissenting minority, it may prepare a separate ticket in expression of its views. Such 
ticket or tickets thus prepared shall be reported to the Recorder, who shall print and 



distribute the same, with the circular notice of the stated meeting next preceding the 
election. The report aforesaid of such ticket or tickets to the Recorder shstll be taken 
and accepted as the report of said committee, and the committee shall be thereby 
discharged. 

The polls for the election of oflficers shall be held in a room other than the one in 
which the business meeting of the Commandery is held. They shall be opened at 
6:30 P. M. and remain open until 8:30 p. M. of the same evening, at which hour they 
shall be closed and no more ballots received. Three tellers shall be appointed by the 
Commander at the meeting in April to receive and count the ballots, who shall be 
furnished with alphabetical lists of all companions entitled to vote, and a check be 
made opposite the name of each companion as his ballot is deposited in the ballot-box. 

Immediately upon the closing of the polls the tellers shall proceed to count the 
ballots cast and make a return of the result to the Commander. 



(10.) Arrears. 

Immediately after the reading and adoption of the minutes at the stated meeting 
in the month of May, the Commander shall read Section i of Article XVIII. of the 
Constitution, so that, if desired, arrears may be paid or remitted before the ballot for 
officers of the Commandery is taken. 



(11.) Removal of Officers. 

When charges are preferred against an officer for misfeasance they shall be made 
in writing and be served upon the officer so charged at least twenty days before the 
date fixed for the hearing thereof, and no removal of said officer shall be made by the 
Commandery until he shall have had reasonable opportunities for his defence before 
a committee of five members. 

(12.) Tellers. 

Motions shall in all cases be reduced to writing if desired by the Commander or 
a companion. 

On motions and resolutions the vote may be viva voce or by division. A division 
by tellers shall be taken at the demand of fifteen members. 



(13.) Library Committee. 

The Commander shall annually, as soon after the stated meeting in October as 
practicable, appoint three companions as a committee to be known as the " Library 
Committee," who shall.have charge of the library and relics. They shall prepare and 
maintain a proper catalogue of the same and shall recommend to the Board of 
Officers from time to time such books as in their judgment should be added thereto. 
The committee shall continue to act until the appointment of their successors. 



(i4) Funds. 

1st. The admission fee to the Commandery shall be $35. 

2nd. The annual dues shall be, tor each resident member $10, and for each non- 
resident member $5, payable in advance, on or before the annual meeting of the 
Commandery in the month of May in each year. Resident companions elected between 
January and May shall pay only one-half of the annual dues for the current year. 

The sums of money deposited to the credit of the Commandery in various savings 
banks, or elsewhere, shall be known as the Permanent Fund. The sums of money 
received for admission fees and annual dues, and from all other sources, shall con- 
stitute a fund to be known as the General Fund. All current expenses of the 
fiscal year shall be chargeable to and defrayed from the General Fund, and of the 
surplus, if any, of the General Fund remaining at the end of the fiscal year 
one-half thereof shall be transferred to the credit of the Permanent Fund, and the 
remaining one-half thereof shall be carried to the credit of the General Fund of the 
succeeding year. 

The Treasurer may, for convenience during the fiscal year, draw from the Gen- 
eral Fund sums chargeable upon the Permanent Fund, but all such sums shall be 
chargeable upon and be duly debited against the Permanent Fund, and be so reported 
by the Treasurer in each of his quarterly reports. 

In case of drafts made by the Treasurer in the course of the fiscal year upon the 
General Fund of sums chargeable to the Permanent Fund, their total at the end of 
the fiscal year shall be supplied to the General Fund by drawing it from the Perman- 
ent Fund, and a full account thereof shall be given to the Commandery by the 
Treasurer in his annual report. 



(15.) Withdrawal of Funds. 

The Permanent Fund, whether in savings banks or elsewhere deposited, shall 
not be withdrawn, or any part thereof, except by resolution of the Commandery, 
stating the amount and for what purpose, duly certified by the presiding officer and 
Recorder. The check or draft to be signed by the Treasurer and the Commander or 
Senior Vice-Commander. 



(16.) Relief. 

All sums paid by the Treasurer, whether on the approval of the Board of 
Officers for "temporary assistance of the unfortunate," or by resolution of the 
Commandery for relief, shall be made chargeable to, and be drawn from, the Per- 
manent Fund. It shall be the duty of the Relief Committee to report all cases of 
temporary assistance at the next stated meeting of the Commandery, with their 
reasons for the same. 

Resolutions for relief when ordered by the Commandery shall require a two- 
thirds vote for adoption. 



Applications for relief shall be made in writing to the Recorder, stating the 
grounds on which the relief is asked, and the same shall be presented by him to the 
Commandery at its next meeting, and be forthwith referred, without debate, to the 
Relief Committee. 



(17.) Security of Treasurer. 

The Treasurer shall give a bond, conditioned for " the faithful performance of 
his duty " in the penal sum of $5,000, with two sufiticient sureties, to be approved 
by the Board of Officers. 



(18.) Standing Committee on Accounts. 

The Council shall audit and adjust the Commandery's books of accounts every 
three months, and as often as done make a report of the same at the next stated 
meeting. 

(19.) Fines. 

A companion introducing or discussing sectarian or partisan topics at a meeting 
of the Commandery shall immediately be called to order by the Commander, who 
thereupon shall refer the offence to the Board of Officers. If the offence be com- 
mitted within the precincts of the Commandery other than at the meeting, the Board 
of Officers shall take cognizance of it. 

The precincts of the Commandery shall be the place of its meeting and the 
place of its refection. 

No fine, however, for this or other violation, or neglect of duty by a companion, 
shall be imposed without opportunity first given to him of being heard in his 
defence. 

(20.) Military Papers. 

Papers on military reminiscences relating to the War, after approval of the Board 
of Officers, may be read at the stated meetings of the Commandery, and on resolution 
of the Commandery shall be preserved among its archives. 



(21.) Headquarters. 

A suitable place shall be maintained at the expense of the Commandery where- 
in shall be deposited its archives and library and whatever else of value or 
importance. It shall, at all leasonable times, be accessible to companions and vis- 
itors introduced by them as the headquarters of the Commandery. It shall be under 
the care and its contents in the custody of the Recorder, subject, however, to the 
control of the Board of Officers. 



(22.) By-Laws. 

These By-Laws shall not be repealed or amended, nor shall any new by-law be 
made, unless notice of the repeal, or amendment thereof, or of the new by-law pro- 
posed, shall have been given at the stated meeting previous to that at which it is 
moved, nor unless adopted by two-thirds of the members voting. 

All Resolutions, Motions or Orders in conflict with these By-Laws are hereby 
repealed. 



^-^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



012 187 031 9 



./•here- 

'alue or 

id vis- 

~der 



